


Connect Me to You

by PippinPips



Series: Birthday Ficlets [10]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, M/M, Soulmates, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:51:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PippinPips/pseuds/PippinPips
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a soulmate is not all that it's said to be. This is a world where people actually have physical reactions when their soulmates are around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Connect Me to You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wallhaditcoming](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallhaditcoming/gifts).



Charles wraps a hand around the back of Erik’s neck, the pulse of magic flows through him and then through Erik like a seamless conductor. It’s a test they’ve passed years ago when they were fifteen. Suspected soulmates and such. Charles curls Erik’s hand towards him and presses the palm to his chest, the magic transfers back. Successful in every way. Under Shaw’s watchful eyes they are allowed into the Hellfire Club. There is no question for how long they have known they are each other’s _other_ , it’s not a questioned asked, but Charles can feel Shaw wandering. He can also feel Shaw’s eyes on Erik’s form. The possessive curl of his arm around Erik’s waist is not all for show. In certain circles their brand is enough to keep most people’s eyes far, far away. However, Sebastian Shaw is not a man who loses what he wants.

Nor is Charles Xavier.

But that is something for later.

 

Soulmates are rare, yet at the same time they aren’t. Seventy-five years prior to the moment Charles writhes on his schoolroom floor at the first contact from his own other half, there were at least 40% of the population that claimed to be part of a bonded pair or soulmates, for some the entire terminology can be switched out at any point in a conversation or explanation. Due to the staggering increase, the people of the world had to find ways to make sure everyone was telling the truth. 70% of that 40% were not indeed telling the truth, and had instead most likely felt a bubble of indigestion or some other anomaly of pain to make them believe the person they had just come into contact with was indeed the person they were intended to live the rest of their life with.

That was not the case with Charles Xavier when he writhed on the floor, no other medical explanation for the reason as to why he was in such pain and they only thing could sooth it wasn’t in the room right then. He screams in pain up until the teachers find another boy in the same predicament as Charles and brings them together. Like magic both of their pain subsides. The moment that they do, the tests are on, though, by protocol, they never separate the soulmates as they make them jump through hoops.

The fact of the matter is that no one quite knows why soulemates, or bonded pairs, actually come to be or why their connections start when they do. If there was such a perfect world most people believe those who are bonded would just be born with a non-painful form of that, which only settles when the pair are near each other. Strangely enough there have been instances when soulmates have actually lived next to each other for twenty years before the push happens. Those are evenly intermixed with the cases that the first moment the couple comes into contact with each other is when it appears.

There is a school of thought that believes that the appearance of the bonds only happens when people are ready for them. If they cannot handle having a soulmate they just won’t ever feel the connection. Thus fuels the belief that everyone has a soulmate just most of the population is so underdeveloped that they cannot handle the connection.

It may be useful to note that when a connection is made the relationship between the two people does not always linked to a romantic one, and sometimes pairs are not happy with each other.

The case of Lehnsherr and Xavier however is not one of those.

 

Charles has a low humming awareness that day at school, like his body is telling him something that he needs to be aware that something big is going to happen. For the most part he ignores it. The only specialness he has in his body is the fact that his IQ is astounding, he doesn’t expect the explosion that is finding a soulmate to crash into him the second Erik Lehnsherr steps on the school grounds a transfer student from Germany. They both fall, and some believe if they were watched that all their movements are at the same time. (Of course no one is watching them with that scientific idea in mind; two boys just fell to their knees and started to scream. A moment of soulmates bonding is the last thing from their minds). It’s takes them twenty-seven minutes to connect the two boys. For the outside viewers it is almost as if everything is made better. For the boys the experience was a completely different monster.

For Charles it feels like the world is crashing and yet being remade at the same time. Magic fills his body and his mind flares to the point where there are a million voices yet it is like there is a filter. His eyes are opened to a new world and one he isn’t quite sure he wants to face up until his mind dives into the one that is next to him. It’s then that he meets Erik. He sees everything Erik has ever seen and he feels the emotions that coarse through Erik’s veins.

For Erik it’s like someone is replacing his bones with fire, burning him alive yet not enough for the pain to be too much. He gasps as it all subsides and he can feel every piece of something around him. It takes him a few moments to realize that it’s all metal that he’s feeling, and that he is drawn mostly to the metal on his partner’s body. It’s warm from his skin. All Erik wants to do is press his body to his partner’s and feel the warmth, even after the fire all he wants is more.

 

 

After testing most of the time is the interview phase with soulmates. This is to see if there is any common link that can discern why some bond at certain times and why other don’t and if each bonding moment is the same. For most the scientists have to trust that their interviewees are telling the entire truth and that they are no making up something along the lines they have read in textbooks.

Due to wide variety in most stories, however, most feel the experiences are different for everyone affected. Some describe floating, other’s pain that all they want to go away. There is also an often surge of abilities that appear with soulmates, they gain powers that some call _“super”_. This also leads to the belief that only people with a possibility of being almost superhuman will find a soulmate. However this theory is untested and cannot be tested due to the fact that if such gifts exist they are in hibernation until the bond starts.

Along with the previous school of thought, is another one that soulmates are freaks of nature who are merely anomalies in the foundation of evolution and should be stomped out. However there are not many in that camp any longer. Those that are, are the type that most people would cross the street if they came across them.

The case of Lehnsherr and Xavier seems to lean proof to both camps as it produced the most powerful men that the scale of measurements had to be recalibrated. It should be impossible to reach 20+ the top of the scale. Yet they both did it.

 

Shaw gives them a room, and his eyes cling to Erik’s form. The possessive movements don’t seem to deter him much. The fact of the matter that it’s usually not a problem, most people don’t touch what they shouldn’t, but Shaw believes he’s giving them sanctuary from the normal people. Shaw also thinking that they aren’t as powerful as they really are thanks to the fact that ever since they tested so high above the scale everyone wanted to keep it all hushed until they could figure out how to actually calibrate it so that their powers weren’t at the top. So, there is the tiny problem that Shaw thinks he’ll be able to overpower one of them to get to Erik. Charles pulls at Erik’s waist and kisses him. Erik returns the act readily his entire body lining up with Charles’. There is something beautiful when Erik pretends, when he bows his head like he’s subservient.

Shaw seems to like that even more if the way he moves in the corner of Charles’ eyes say anything. Anger feeds his powers immediately, and he pushes towards Shaw’s mind. He makes him forget he’s ever seen Charles take ownership in that way. Instead there is a suggestion that Erik is very off limits. There is a part of Charles that thinks that the suggestion will only last so long before Shaw decides he wants Erik that badly.

In truth, Charles is almost giddy with anticipation for the moment when Shaw steps over his bounds with Erik. So giddy in fact that he almost thinks maybe he shouldn’t tell Erik to keep an eye on Shaw. However, there is a moment of thought that makes Charles itch. Once Shaw is gone, he palms Erik’s cheek only to have his other half just smirk at him. He knows Erik’s mind, for he never leaves it and slipping in information is as easy as breathing now after years of being together. Erik takes to the information like a duck to water, and Charles can see the plans beginning within his mind with every new tidbit that reveals itself. Charles strokes his hair and presses another kiss to his lips. They have to prepare for the next half of Charles’ plans.

 

Whilst studying the phenomenon that is soulmates one thing that is a constant is the fact that soulmates seem to have a secondary way of communication, even whilst neither one shows abilities towards telepathy. Though it appears that in cases of a telepathic soulmate that the interactions between the two and done in a far more in depth and intimate nature. Those who have a telepathic bond appear to settle into their fates more easily. (However there are a few cases in which the non-telepathic soulmate will find their partner’s abilities too intrusive and this often leads to an unhappy, stilted relationship. Often times the denying of the _others_ abilities is what causes the soulmates to be unromantically linked and act more like cellmates in a prison then people who are supposed to be two sides of the same coin. This should also be noted that not all bonds have to be romantic, but there is often a need for comradery between the soulmates. The treating as the _other_ as an unwanted burden creates more tension, stress, and illness.) They also seem to test better when put through the paces and also seem into interact more easily with each other’s families (even the non-telepathic soulmate seems to have an easier time about it).

Most people hope, and romanticize, the idea of having a telepathic partner. Of course telepathic bondings are a rare occurrence of a rare occurrence. Only 5% of soulmates will develop telepathy. This however doesn’t stop Hollywood or any other form of media from almost pretending that this is the most common form. Where one (usually the male) gains telepathy and the _other_ gains something far more less intrusive (usually the female), and thus starts their romantic story about how much they are one, but others (especially old flames of the female role) usually don’t understand how someone can only meet a person once and know everything.

This also brings up another interesting development of soulmates, due to some of the more Western feelings about same-sex relationships, the fact that the phenomenon that is **_Soulmates_** has nearly shattered the belief that same-sex relationships that are something that is unnatural. (This also leads to why certain bonded pairs do not have a romantic relationship, one or both of their sexual interests are not compatible, however, sometimes the bonded mate is an _exception_ to their partner’s usual sexual preference and thus a romantic relationship will still be struck up between the two.) 1 and 3 of every soulmate matching is a same-sex matching. Due to this during most of the interviewing processes the two members of the new bonded pair are asked as to what they identify with.

The case of Lehnsherr and Xavier was answered, at fifteen, with unknown/unsure (Lehnsherr) and bisexual (Xavier). Lehnsherr’s answer is not uncommon in younger members who become bonded.

 

Charles is dropped in a facility and his, his partner (his _other_ ) is right at his side shivering from the aftermath. He’s read all the books about soulmates, though never with the thought that he was to become one of the few. The fact that’s he’s part of a same-sex pair is also stunning. Charles wants to wrap his arms around Erik, but he checks first moving through Erik’s mind like it’s a second home. When he uses his abilities with Erik it’s like breathing, yet any time he stretches out to read one of the scientists he can’t quite grasp ahold of their minds and it feels like he’s being pulled far too tight when he tries. Later he’ll practice more and he’ll help Erik manipulate magnetic fields and other metals then as well (instead of caging Erik to just being able to manipulate the metal that touches his skin).

He shifts through Erik’s mind and finds that he too wants contact. After that it’s an easy fix, Charles merely leans against Erik and without any prodding his _other_ wraps an arm around him. It’s not quite what Charles imagined, but there are only a few shows of affection that Erik is willing to show. That too is something they will work on. Charles brushes his nose to the underside of Erik’s jaw and then there is a sparkle of something that Charles wants to follow down the rabbit hole, yet then there’s a scientist and they say they’re going to run tests. There are also requests that they take their shirts off for the duration of the tests. Charles is the first to oblige and it takes a few mental assurances from Charles that he’s sure this is all part of protocol before Erik does pull his cotton shirt from his body.

The female scientists hands them what looks like an empty jar, except the second Charles wraps his hands around it, he can feel the magic it’s foreign at that. His stomach rolls and he begins to feel sick. Erik almost immediately, instinctually, presses a hand to his chest and Charles can feel the foreign magic leech from his body to Erik’s almost immediately. Foregoing the pressing of hands Charles pulls Erik’s hand away, the scientists makes a startled gasp, and then pulls Erik so close that they are chest to chest. The magic vibrates between them until it is no longer foreign but a strange mixture of the both of them. Charles presses his fingers to Erik’s temples, while Erik curls a hand around the back of his neck.

“Could you two place your hands on the jar?” the scientist requests. It’s almost as if they are the same person as they move their hands back to the jar. Charles doesn’t feel like anything goes out, he knows that Erik doesn’t feel it either (his confusion is heavy on Charles’ tongue). The scientist doesn’t touch the jar again, instead she waves, what looks like a wand, over the glass and then stares at the reading. She moves the wand over three more times her frown deepening after each time. She taps her instrument and by the fourth time she just lets out a disbelieving laugh. “I have to. I have to go run this by one of my superiors,” she tells them.

 

When soulmates first appeared, the tests used to prove that they were hoaxes are what now would be seen as, cruel and unusual. Certain statistics will skew that the death rate of those tested upon was ridiculously high, while other will say that they were relatively low. Neither one, however, comments on the psychological trauma the surviving soulmates dealt with. It’s something that a few people have looked at, but the research is always lost after a while, or it’s just decided that they won’t publish it.

With the research, despite with how inhumane the retrieving of the information may have  been, doctors and scientists found out what they had to do when soulmates appeared at their doors needing to either be treated or tested. So, that when Charles and Erik sit in the cold room at fifteen neither are subjected to tests that ask how far away they can stand being away with each other. Though there is curiosity as to if, since one is a telepath if they can sustain longer distances.

 

The answer is yes.

Erik walks through the door after his _trip_ , as Charles has come to calling it. He’s coated in blood, Charles doesn’t know exactly whose it is, but if he wants to see he can. Erik won’t even try to hide it. Though he is about to ask how on earth Erik made it through the city without one person noticing the blood bath that is on his shirt when then the hoodie lands in his lap. He barely manages to get rid of it before Erik is in his lap kissing his face and the bloody shirt pressing against his previously clean one. It then he dives into Erik’s mind to see everything. To see the fear and to see exactly why Erik did what he did. He loves every second he dances through Erik’s memories. Charles pulls Erik tighter to him and the second Erik grips his hand, he feels the exchange happening. As this bond hums from the contact, Charles feels the tension ooze from his body. There was stress on their connection, even with his telepathy keeping contact with Erik almost always, there is still a bit of strain. But with skin to skin contact their connection seems to grow healthy again.

If he imagines it, he supposes it would be like ropes of light that connect the two of through most of the important organ systems, seeing as often severing the bonds are what ends with deaths.

 

Any more information on the Lehnsherr and Xavier case is unavailable past the age of 22. Reason for that is unknown. If you would like details on any other- Sorry this machine is offline. Please have a nic-

 

He’s hovering over Shaw’s prone body. There is rubble somewhere, and Charles can’t stop smiling. Pressing his foot to Shaw’s chest he just keeps watching for any signs of movement. Shaw was harder than he expected to kill. He turns his head to Erik and takes in the bruise that is blooming at his cheek. The feeling the blooms in his chest is enough that Erik immediately looks up from whatever he was doing and stares back.

“Are you okay?” Charles asks. He can’t feel anything wrong with Erik, but then again he can’t feel what he is sure is a throbbing pain in Erik’s right shoulder. Erik looks at him.

“I’m fine.” Charles only waits a moment before he checks to see if Erik is lying. He isn’t.

“He got you good,” he comments. Erik nods.

“I had to get between the two of you.” It’s the only explanation Charles knows he’s going to get, but he doesn’t mind.

“Come here,” he begs and Erik obliges him. He slides his fingers over Erik’s face. “It’s over now.” He whispers. “They all know.” Erik turns his head to see the images flash over the screen. It’s a tell all of what the government has done to soulmates, how they use them and how they tag them once they’re found. Charles rubs at the mark that was put on Erik and feels righteous anger dance along his veins. It’s all done. Shaw with his final bit of information was their last stop.

“Our own kind,” Erik mutters. Charles looks down at the man, he has to agree, and it was shocking to find Shaw as involved as he was. A pity that one of their own had to die, but he wasn’t going to give them what they needed willingly.

“Only proves the point that the purist are wrong.” Erik hums in agreement. Neither one of them asks the other what is next in store. Charles watches the film play over and over again with the messages on it.

 

It hurts, Charles thinks, his mind is just in pain feeling like it’s been put through a shedder and even as he connects to Erik he knows his _other_ can’t describe how much his abilities pain him. He’s twenty-one and each year it becomes worse, he looks at Erik and he knows what he looks like. The blood on his upper lip feels heavy on his skin. Erik draws him near and just holds him.

“One more year,” he whispers. Erik’s mind is skeptical of that, they ‘re always called back. “No. We’re making them stop. One year and by the next checkup, we’ll be ready. We’ll stop this.” Erik presses a kiss to his temple.

One more year.

 

 


End file.
